MAKING SENSE OF BARACK OBAMA

I should start off this entry by making it abundantly clear that my credentials for doing a piece of this nature are zero, nada, and gornisht. I am not a psychologist, a psychiatrist or a social worker But that has not stopped me in the past from writing from my experience. So here goes.

Barack Hussein Obama is a man with an over-sized ego and a deep-seated antagonism for the American political system. He is black and resents the American history of discrimination towards the people of his race, yet he is very proud of being the first black man to be president of the U.S. I might say he was elected only because he was black as he had no experience running anything and the American people used him as a way of saying “I`m sorry”. When Barack was elected his wife was quoted as saying” that is the first thing the American people have done right” . It made me think- what have the Americans let themselves in for. The colour of his skin, his Muslim background and his resentment of American history has coloured his whole tenure in office and he is out to make amends for what he sees as the terrible tragedies the Americans have inflicted on the world.

Obama wants to change the health care system in the U.S. and it is the one area that I have to agree with him. This attempt has marginally been successful but because of the nature of the American system and the need to placate the insurance companies, the system does not work well and if the Republicans win in the next election , who knows where it will go.

May 5th 2017- Excerpts from an article in the Foreign Policy magazine by Matthew Kroenig an associate professors of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

1. In Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Obama left behind a far more dangerous world than the one he inherited in 2009.

2. The Obama administration`s policy of” strategic patience” with North Korea was a euphemism for standing idly by as threats gathered. According to expert estimates, Pyongyang now has up to 21 warheads and is on track to have nuclear missiles that could hit the continental United States.

3. The worst of the Obama administration’s failures took place in the Middle East. The United States oversaw the wholesale disintegration of the region and the rise of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS). Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen have failed or are failing as states, turning them into incubators of terrorism. Isis is metastasizing and inspiring attacks around the world, including in the United States. Unwilling to upset nuclear negotiations with Iran, Obama failed to counter Tehran’s advancing missile program and its support for terrorist groups. Today, Iran is testing long-range ballistic missiles and projecting its influence throughout the Middle East, worsening the security of the United States and its partners. Moreover, although the nuclear deal delayed the Iranian nuclear program, it created a serious problem for future U.S. presidents, who will have to figure out what to do when the limits of Iran’s nuclear program begin to expire in less than a decade.

4. In every region of the world important to the United States, the last eight years have left emboldened enemies, nervous allies, and increasing disorder. Obama may have inherited two difficult counterinsurgency campaign, but he bequeathed to his successor an entire world in disarray. Indeed, the current international environment may be the worst that any incoming president has faced since the height of the Cold War.

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Name of author

Name: Murray Rubin

Short Bio: I was born in Toronto in 1931 to a wonderful mother who divorced shortly before my birth. I owe a great deal of my success to her. I am Jewish but not at all religious, yet my culture plays an important part of my personality. I attended Harbord Collegiate and U. of T. Faculty of Pharmacy. A unique mail-order pharmacy was the first of my endeavours in the profession, followed by many stores throughout Ontario. I have a loving wife, 3 children and grand-children and I am now retired from pharmacy. But what do I write about? Everything! My topics are funny, serious, whimsical, timely, outrageous, inspiring, and inventive. I promise that if you take the time to read any one of these topics – you will not be sorry.

About Me

I was born in Toronto in 1931 to a wonderful mother who divorced shortly before my birth. I owe a great deal of my success to her. I am Jewish but not at all religious, yet my culture plays an important part of my personality. I attended Harbord Collegiate and U. of T. Faculty of Pharmacy.